Blackberries, computers and television can make life such a drag. In a time when technology controls so much of people's lives, many seem to forget the value of a good book on a cold winter's night.
British novelist Anita Brookner has quietly become one of the world's most prodigious writers.
Brookner's slim novels depict lonely, isolated individuals trying their best to adapt to the harsh and often cruel world around them. Her characters are usually quiet bookworms, secure in their finances, but little else.
It is in these modest corners of society where Ms. Brookner creates entire worlds that define the universal human psyche.
Brookner's first novel, 'A Start in Life,' was published in 1981. She has published 24 novels since, with the most recent being 'Strangers' from 2009.
Her most famous work is arguably her fourth novel, 'Hotel du Lac.' Chronicling the solitary adventures of a romance novelist at an out of season ski resort, the novel won the Man Booker Prize in 1984.
As a stylist, Brookner has been called an heir to Henry James. Her drawing room scenes and profound inner monologue allow a merging to occur between the reader and the character, resulting in a beautiful marriage of intellect and artistry.
In addition to her distinguished literary career, she is internationally renowned as an art historian and in 1967, she became the first woman to hold the Slade Professorship at Cambridge University.
Her other notable novels include 'Look at Me,' 'Family and Friends,' 'A Misalliance,' 'A Friend From England,' 'Dolly,' 'Incidents in the Rue Laugier,' 'The Bay of Angels,' 'Making Things Better' and 'Leaving Home.'
Brookner's novels prove that it's never too late to learn life's lessons, and that retired eighty-something art history professors can still be the best teachers.
E-mail: features@ubspectrum.com
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